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Re-starting Over

I know, it’s been a while. Maybe too long. Did you forget about me? I almost did.

Do you have a minute? Oh good! Let’s chat. Here, have a cookie and some tea. I have something on my mind I’d like to share with you.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about this blog and if I want to keep it going. It started out as a place to post stories of my crazy work environment. I wanted to share some of the funny and weird things we encountered. Those posts are still my most popular to date.

But once I left that office, the focus shifted to posts about my family and life at home. After a time I felt stuck in the silo of Mommy Blogger. Don’t get me wrong – there are a ton of great Mom Blogs out there but I felt like I was always competing with them and never quite measured up. The posts became more like long status updates and my heart wasn’t in it.

So I just stopped posting. I even thought about shutting this whole thing down.

Then I realized the other day that I could get back to what I started with. Not necessarily stories about The Annex but about other strange things that go on in the life of Team Trader. Believe me there are plenty. I recount them to friends and family all the time, so why not here?

So, that is going to be my new focus. That’s not to say I’ll never post about my family again. On the contrary, more often then not they’ll probably be featured in my stories. But it won’t be to report on the latest milestones Cora is hitting or how our financial situation is going (by the way, this year we’ve paid off all our debts except the house – BOO YAH!). It’ll be more like “you’ll never believe what happened when we tried to go look at Christmas lights the other night.”

I hope this change will rejuvenate both my spirit in writing and your spirit in reading this blog.

Do you want to hear a tale? You do! Great!

I have to tell you about a phenomenon that goes on in this house. It’s called the Sleep Principle. This is how it works: whenever I have a morning where I could sleep in, Isabella or Cora will wake up extra early. On days when I work or have an appointment, and therefore it doesn’t matter to me how late they sleep, they will set records with the amount of time they will stay in bed. This can also be called “The Odds Are Forever In Your Favor CJ” Principle.

Saturday was one of those days when I could have used a few extra winks. I was feeling the beginnings of a cold and was also worn out from the hustle and bustle of the season. Well wouldn’t you know it but Cora was awake at 3:30 a.m. wanting to eat. I fed her and got back to bed by 4:15.

I believe it was exactly 2 hours later, and approximately 90 minutes after I finally fell asleep, that I heard “Mommy it’s morning!” and turned to find Isabella staring at me.

“Go back to bed,” I muttered knowing full well I was wasting my breath.

“No Mommy I’m hungry.”

Sigh. Fine.

I got up and shuffled downstairs. I made a deal with her that if I put in a movie and gave her food, she would watch it quietly while I went back upstairs to rest. After all, that’s what parenting is all about right – bribery and deal making. I popped in Despicable Me, made up a breakfast plate and was ready to head upstairs when I felt the call of nature. A call that could not be ignored.

So I made a detour in to the downstairs bathroom.

I had just finished drying my hands and was rounding the corner toward the staircase when I heard it.

The all too familiar sound of a dog dry heaving.

I tell you what, I have never run up those stairs so fast. I actually think I flew at one point.

I hurdled up to the second floor, tore down the hallway to Samson’s Loft (What? Your dog doesn’t have his own loft?) and yanked open the kennel door in time to see him puke all over his bed.

Good morning to you too!

Then he started the dry heaving again. I grabbed his collar and yell-whispered “Go Dude go! Outside! Come on!” while dragging him down the stairs. You try dragging 88 pounds of heaving dog down the stairs some time and see how fast you go. We didn’t quite make it and he hacked again in the playroom. I finally got him out the back door but he was already done by then.

I looked at the mess for a good 30 seconds while contemplating my options. I could do the responsible thing and clean it up immediately or I could ignore it and go back to bed. Of course I chose the adult grown up option – place a paper towel on top of the pile so it was clearly marked, and then hustle up to my pillowed wonderland.

And just as I laid my head down on that sweet soft gateway to dream world, Cora woke up.

It was at that point that I elbowed CJ and told him to get up. I knew there was no going back to sleep for me but dammit I was not about to deal with all that awaited outside our bedroom doors all alone. There were kids to feed, diapers to change and 2 piles of puke to clean up.